eMatrimony.org

Supporting, Encouraging, and Challenging the WWME Community

  Resources - History

Worldwide Marriage Encounter Expands To Italy

Frank & Nives Jelich

(Excerpted from the Summer 1988 Matrimony magazine.)

In the year 1978, another of our dreams came true. Was it easy? No, but it was challenging. We made five trips to Italy; each trip had its own obstacles and its own blessings.

The first time we went to recruit. When we reached New York from Wichita, we found that in our excitement we had forgotten our passports. We had to stay in New York for three days until they came. In the meantime, our suitcases were in Italy. And when we finally arrived there, we couldn't find them for another three days!

The second time we went to give the first Weekend in Italy, in the Italian language. It was a very difficult Weekend. All the couples were from a small town and knew each other. There were supposed to be 15 couples, but only 9 couples came, and one priest. Two couples, our own cousins, left on Saturday morning. What a disappointment that was for us. One priest showed up on Saturday morning. The women sat with their shawls in front of their faces giggling at everything the team said. At times we all wanted to just tell them to go home.

The other two teams didn't speak Italian too well. One was more fluent than the other, but had originally come from a different part of Italy (Naples) and the couples really laughed at their accent, blended with an American accent With the other team couple, only the wife spoke Italian well. The husband had tried to learn enough to give the Weekend but often the wife had to help him. Father Bob Uzillio, our team priest, spoke Italian but was not yet fluent

Actually the couples received more than we expected. There were even some who returned to the Sacraments. That Weekend was important, however, because one couple and priest had come from a town near Venice. They would go home and recruit the next Weekend and that's why encounter really began to flourish in Italy.

Two months later the call came for us to give another weekend. Grandma was visiting us for three weeks and it meant we would be leaving during her visit. Again we had to leave our children and our jobs. And Christmas was coming. How would we ever be prepared?

More than anything we wondered if there would be many problems again. Yet, the closer we got to Italy the more excited we became. This time all would be smooth sailing. We had been told that 17 couples and 2 priests were definitely coming. We landed on a beautiful sunny day. No problems!

But fog rolled in on Friday afternoon and made it hard to see the car in front of you on the highway. The temperature dropped. It began to snow and the roads turned icy. Everyone said they never had weather like this in that part of Italy. "Why Lord?"

We waited at the hotel, praying that someone would come. At 7:45 we had two couples. The two other teams were not there yet. They were in another city trying to make it. By 8:30 we had nine couples and one priest. They were all eager to begin. And so we began. The other two teams arrived after midnight. And one couple finally made it to the Weekend just before noon on Saturday. They had been stranded at the train station.

The weekend was wonderful. We felt very moved when the couples shared with us what it had meant in their lives. It was painful to leave them, but we left with so much hope in our hearts for Italy. Those couples were determined to make the encounter grow and spread, and they did.

The most wonderful part of this story, however, is the story of how God gave Italy its first team priest. When we were on a pilgrimage in Lourdes, we all wore crucifixes. We carried banners that identified us, and the 2200 of us were quite noticeable. One morning as we were taking pictures we heard one priest say to another in Italian, "Who do you think these people are?" Well, we told him. We talked and talked and he became more and more excited. He said he had new hope for the church. Suddenly we looked around and all our people were gone. We realized they had left for lunch. We quickly said goodbye and hurried off to catch up. When we saw Father Chuck Gallagher we told him we had met a wonderful priest from Italy who was interested in making the Weekend. We said, "We think he will help begin the Weekend in Italy." "What's his name?" Father Chuck asked. We almost died. We hadn't gotten his name or address, and hadn't given him ours!

We started praying. We asked Our Lady to help us find him. We knew it would be hard. Thousands of pilgrims were there. Hundreds of priests were there! The weather turned bad and the umbrellas everyone used made it even harder to see faces.

Then, in the middle of the plaza, with thousands of people around and all the sick in wheelchairs and beds, and everyone huddled under umbrellas, we heard. "Thank God, I've found them!" And there he was. We corresponded and he came to that first weekend in Italy. He went to Belgium for his team training, and on December 8th gave his first Weekend with us in Italy That was the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It was in Lourdes that Our Lady told Bernadette, "I am the Immaculate Conception." There is no doubt that Mary gave Italy its first team priest!

[Editors Note: After Italy was started, Frank & Nives decided once again to turn to a new ministry. They were tired and had left their children often. They had just made this decision when another call came. This time it was from Montreal, Canada. There were many Italians living there who wanted Weekends begun in Italian. Would Frank & Nives come? Of course they would, three times!]

Click here for a printable version (PDF, 11KB)